by John Markwell
Contributing Editor
No one ever accused us of having normal tastes when it comes to firearms and ammunition choices. For a pocket carry handgun we prefer the old hump-backed S&W Bodyguard. We deer hunt with the old .250-3000 (.250 Savage) cartridge chambered in a state of the art New Ultra Light Arms Model 20 bolt gun. And in contrast to most folks, we’ve lately been using really light rifles in .223 Remington for a lot of our prairie dog shooting. That brings us to rimfires and our infatuation with the Hornady .17 Mach 2 cartridge, which is by no means the most popular of the rimfires.
The .17M2 was introduced to the public at the 2004 SHOT show with much fanfare. Unlike with the introduction of the .17HMR, the folks at Hornady got the word out about the new little .17M2 round pretty well in advance of SHOT and just about every maker of rimfire rifles was offering at least one model for the .17M2. Ammo was available in quantity and it looked like the .17Mach2 was off to a great start as the whole industry, at least those making rimfire rifles and handguns, was on board.
We have to acknowledge that our first reaction to the .17M2 cartridge was that it was a cute little bugger. Based on the CCI stinger case, the .17Mach2 is a step up from the .22LR and a step down from the 17HMR performance-wise. Propelling a 17-grain .17 caliber V-Max bullet at about 2,050 fps from a rifle, the .17M2 shoots flatter than the .22LR but not quite as flat as the .17HMR. Here’s the data for comparison:
| 50 yds. | 100 yds. | 150 yds. | |
| 22LR | +2.7” | 0 | -10.7” |
| .17M2 | +.7” | 0 | -4.5” |
| .17HMR | +.1” | 0 | -2.6” |
As can be seen in the chart, the .17M2, with a 100 yard zero, can be used to head shoot squirrels out to just past 100 yards if the rifleman and rifle are up to the task.
Since 2004, we have shot countless ground squirrels (gophers) in Montana with the .17Mach2. Most were inside of 125 yards and by simply using a neck hold on the upright little critters hitting them was relatively easy, but you had to watch the wind. Any hit on a gopher with the 17-grain V-Max bullet proves to be almost instantly fatal. Our experience shooting prairie dogs with the .17M2 has been almost as extensive as our gopher shooting. We enjoy walking dog towns with a .17M2 rimfire rifle and our shooting sticks. Shooting is mostly done from the sitting position using the sticks for a front rest. On prairie dogs, head shots are the rule for instant incapacitation. If shot in the body, out past 50 yards or so, with the .17M2 prairie dogs often make it into the burrow— often but not always. The little V-Max bullet sheds energy pretty fast.
When we first started shooting the .17M2 cartridge it was only natural to try the little round on the woodchucks so common here in the Allegheny Mountains where we live. With very careful shooting, the .17M2 will do for hunting our Eastern woodchucks. The key word here is with “careful” shooting. We found that head shots Once heralded .17 Mach II is an almost forgotten taken on woodchucks within 100 yards usually proved pretty effective— usually. The majority of chucks hit in the body got down the hole; almost always unless the range was really close and bullet energy high. So, we do not recommend the .17M2 as a woodchuck (or rock chuck) round unless one is an extremely disciplined shooter who can pass on all but solid and sure head shots. That said, we must note that in a couple of exceptional circumstances we have killed both a coyote and a badger with the little .17M2 round. In both cases the .17M2 did the job with one shot, but even so, we don’t recommend the .17Mach2 for critters the size of badgers, coyotes or woodchucks. The Mach2 is, in our opinion, the perfect round for targets the size of squirrels, rabbits, and gophers. Also, the Mach 2 is cheaper than the .17HMR or .22Magnum and way more effective than the .22LR on small varmints.
In 2004 and ’05 almost every manufacturer of rimfire rifles had at least one model chambered for the .17M2 in their line and some had many more. CZ, Marlin, Kimber, Cooper, Ruger, Anschutz, and others were all competing for a share of the .17M2 market. Handgun-wise, Taurus, Ruger and S&W offered revolvers chambered for the Mach2 and Kimber chambered their 1911 Rimfire Target pistol for the Mach2.
We have had a pretty fair amount of experience shooting small furry critters with the .17Mach2, using an assortment of rifles and a couple of handguns. The first .17M2 rifle we acquired was a Kimber Classic Varmint Model. With a 4x-12x VXIII Leupold telescope mounted on the Kimber in Tally mounts, this rifle has accounted for quite the pile of both gophers and prairie dogs. This first Kimber was great fun to use in the varmint fields of the West as well as the squirrel woods here in the Alleghenies. As our enthusiasm for the .17M2 grew, so did our battery of 17M2 rifles. Over time we acquired another Kimber, two Cooper Model 57Ms (a Jackson Hunter and a Custom Classic), and an Anschutz 1502D (which belongs to my wife). We also converted a Ruger 10/22 rifle that eventually went down the road due to reliability issues. Over the last ten years these rifles have all traveled west at one time or another and have been shot extensively, mainly at gophers and prairie dogs. Each of these .17Mach2 rifles has proved to be extremely accurate and all performed flawlessly in the dust of the high plains. Now, we would never go varmint shooting in the west without taking at least one Mach2 rifle on the trip.
It took us a while to acquire our first handgun for the .17M2, but in late 2005 or early ‘06 we finally ended up with one of Kimber’s .17M2 1911 Rimfire Target models (Kimber also made a number of .17M2 rimfire 1911 conversion units). Kimber only chambered their 1911 for the .17Mach2 for a very few years as there were pressure problems with some of the early Mach2 ammo (as well as a possible timing issue with the pistols) which led to some blown case heads. Wearing glasses is a must for those who shoot the .17Mach2 in a 1911 (for all shooting really). Despite this problem, the .17M2 in the Kimber 1911 pistol has developed sort of a cult following. My first .17M2 1911 eventually went to Wilson Combat for 25LPI checkering on the front strap and a two-tone Armor Tough finish. After being toted around the dog towns and gopher haunts for eight or nine years, this .17M2 Kimber Rimfire Target looks pretty rough but it still shoots well enough to bust the occasional prairie dog out past 50 yards.
Even though the velocity of the .17M2 round from the 1911’s 5-inch barrel is down to around 1,550 fps it still shoots surprisingly flat compared to many pistol rounds, especially the .22LR. We liked the .17M2 in the Kimber 1911 so well after several summers’ use that we acquired another as a “back-up” a few years ago.
By now most readers are wondering about the title of this piece. Despite all the hoopla and the prognostications about the huge impact the .17Mach2 cartridge would have on the world of rimfires, it hasn’t happened. Although Hornady’s .17Mach2 has a dedicated following, it is not, by any stretch of the imagination, an overly popular cartridge. When first introduced, ammunition was offered under five different labels: CCI, Hornady, and Federal (all loaded by CCI), and Remington and Eley (both loaded by Eley). Today the only ammo available is from CCI and Hornady. Despite the current lack of popularity of the .17M2, it was encouraging to see Hornady add a new load in 2012 which contains a 15.5-grain non-toxic (lead free) bullet for those who do not live in the free states. We shot this NTX load during the summers of 2012 and ’13 and found the trajectory and terminal performance of the load to be indistinguishable from the original 17-gr. VMax loading. Interestingly, the 15.5-gr bullet would not group at all well (like 8 inches!) out of my Cooper rifles which have one in ten inch twist barrels. Performance in my Kimber rifles, with their one in nine barrels, was outstanding.
Despite our enthusiasm for the .17Mach2 cartridge, it has failed to capture the market share that Hornady originally thought it would. In fact, ten years after the Mach2’s introduction, a perusal of the offerings of the major rimfire firearms manufacturers will find that guns chambered for the .17Mach2 are conspicuous by their absence. Thompson Center still offers barrels and Cooper still offers rifles chambered for the .17M2. That’s about it. The good news is that there are a lot of .17M2 rifles out there.
Unlike the 5mm Remington, it is doubtful the Mach2 will go out of production any time soon due to the large number of .17Mach2 guns in circulation. If one wants to try the .17M2 cartridge, rifles appear to be pretty common on the used market. However, handguns are tougher to find.
If one visits RimfireCentral.com it is pretty obvious that there is a small but dedicated group of shooters who appreciate and shoot the little Hornady .17Mach2. Used with skill, we feel the Mach2 round is capable of more than the .22LR under most conditions. We theorize that if the .17Mach2 had been introduced before the .17HMR it would have been a raging success with a much larger following than it has today. As it stands now, the little Mach2 has such a small following of shooters that it is, unfortunately, the almost forgotten rimfire. Good shooting.
